Nike’s Chief Sustainability Officer Departs

Nike’s chief sustainability officer, Jaycee Pribulsky, is leaving the company to pursue a new opportunity after less than two years in the role, according to a post the executive shared on social media earlier this week.

Nike confirmed her departure, while reiterating its commitment to sustainability. The company added that it plans to appoint a replacement sustainability lead “in due time.”

Pribulsky joined Nike in 2017, becoming the brand’s chief sustainability officer in February last year amid a challenging period of restructuring. The sportswear giant is still trying to regain its footing after a bruising sales slump that led to significant layoffs and included a shakeup in its sustainability function.

Around 30 percent of Nike’s sustainability focused staff were laid off or chose to leave as a result of cost cutting efforts announced in late 2023, according to an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica published last year. OregonLive was also the first to report on Pribulsky’s departure.

At the time, Nike said the changes reflected a strategy to embed sustainability work across the business, rather than assigning it to dedicated staff.

For many years, Nike was considered an industry leader in climate action and responsible supply chain practices. But more recently it has come under fire from advocacy groups and investors for its handling of alleged failings in supply-chain labour standards. Over the last year, its communication on topics related to sustainability has noticeably shifted.

In the past, the brand has prominently published heavily designed impact reports outlining its efforts to reduce its environmental impact, ensure fair labour practices in its supply chain and address diversity, equity and inclusion within the business. This year, that appears to have been reduced to a series of number-heavy data sheets, tucked away on the brand’s website. Extensive references to DEI have been replaced with a single page titled “representation by the numbers.”

Nike said the new format reflected an effort to make the information “more engaging and accessible,” adding that it planned to update the raw impact data with more “editorialisation and storytelling”. The company might decide to revert back to an annual impact report in the future, it said. It did not comment on its reduced use of the term “DEI.”

Nike’s communication shift comes amid a broader corporate pullback from sustainability and diversity initiatives across the US, driven in part by a crackdown on both public and corporate DEI and environmental justice programmes under the current Trump administration.

“Nike’s commitment to sustainability will continue with the same momentum that has defined our leadership in the space for the past three decades,” the company said in an emailed statement.